Ten Ways for the Next President to Promote the Rule of Law

[Draggingtree]

Liberty Law:

October 4, 2016

Ten Ways for the Next President to Promote the Rule of Law

by Adam White|3 Comments -

 

After eight years of President Obama’s administration, conservatives are much more likely to see executive power as a threat to the rule of law than a tool in service of it. Indeed, after 16 years of Presidents Bush and Obama, we are all well accustomed to hearing critics comparing modern Presidents to King George III. (They don’t mean it as a compliment.) But it is a mistake to believe that presidential power is inherently and categorically a threat to the rule of law—quite the contrary. While it is true that presidential power unchecked by Congress, the courts, or the states can have baleful consequences, that says as much about the failings of the other branches in under-reaching as it does about executive overreach. Simply put, the next President has it within his or her power to significantly promote the rule of law and good government. That was precisely Alexander Hamilton’s point, famously, in Federalist 70: